Meeting Of Top EPA Science Advisory Board Canceled Without Notice, Explanation Or Plans For Rescheduling
In what appears to be the latest attack on the science and regulations that protect public health and the environment, the Trump administration notified top advisors to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s scientific research arm that their first meeting of Trump’s second term was canceled.
The advisors received no explanation for why the meeting was canceled or any information about when, or if, it would be rescheduled. The cancellation follows news that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin plans to dismantle the agency’s Office of Research and Development, or ORD, and lay off most of its scientists, as first reported by The New York Times last month.
The Board of Scientific Counselors, or BOSC, is an independent federal advisory committee established in 1996 to serve the public interest by providing advice and recommendations “on all aspects” of the ORD’s research programs. The last time the BOSC Executive Committee met was last April, under the Biden administration.
Scientists and policymakers see the move as part of the administration’s efforts to dismantle the regulatory infrastructure of government and remove the experts who formulate and enforce the laws and rules designed to safeguard health and the environment. “Lee Zeldin is allergic to science,” said Jeremy Symons, a former EPA climate advisor who leads the Save EPA campaign at the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit formed by former EPA staff during the first Trump administration to defend scientific integrity. “He wants the science to go away because it shines a light on the very real public health costs of the regulatory rollbacks that he’s planning.”
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12042025/epa-cancels-science-advisory-board-meeting/